Classcraft Alternatives in 2026
If you're here, you probably ran Classcraft, watched it disappear, and want the gamification back. Here's exactly what happened, what teachers lost, and where that motivation lives now.
What happened to Classcraft
Classcraft was acquired by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH) in May 2023. New sign-ups were disabled in early 2024, and the original platform was shut down on June 30, 2024, after which class data was no longer accessible.
HMH launched a replacement, HMH Classcraft, in 2024 — but it's a different product with a different audience. It's sold to schools and districts alongside HMH's curricula, not to individual teachers, and at launch it did not carry over the avatars, XP, powers, and RPG mechanics the original was known for.
A teacher-led petition to keep Classcraft gathered 1,084 signatures. It didn't change the outcome. For the individual teacher who loved it, Classcraft is gone.
What teachers actually miss
Plenty of tools award points. What made Classcraft different was a real game running underneath the class:
- Character avatars students customised and grew attached to
- XP and levelling that accumulated all term
- Powers, health points, and gold — real stakes and real rewards
- Teams where one student's choices affected the group
- Boss battles and quests with branching paths
- And the part that mattered most: it sat on top of actual classwork, not beside it as a separate activity
That last point is the real gap. A quiz game or a behaviour-points app is a separate thing you switch to. Classcraft turned the ordinary work of the class — showing up, handing in, improving — into the game itself.
Where Level Up Classroom fits
Level Up Classroom is a gamified LMS. XP, levels, badges, and a leaderboard sit on top of a full classroom platform — a real weighted gradebook, assignments, a class stream, attendance, and parent communication — rather than running alongside it as a separate game layer. It's built by a practising teacher, and it's free to start.
Concretely, that means the motivation is tied to the work that already exists in your class:
- Students earn XP and level up from submissions, grades, improvement, and attendance streaks
- Badges and a leaderboard (which you can hide) run across the whole term, not a single activity
- It's a real gradebook first — any framework (KATC, percentage, standards-based, fully custom), weighted categories, reusable mark sets, a live student portal
- One-click Google Classroom import for classes, rosters, and coursework
- Plus attendance, seating charts, a class hub, per-student test variants, and one-click parent and student emails
| What you want | Level Up Classroom |
|---|---|
| Persistent XP / levels / badges tied to real classwork | ✓ Core of the product |
| A real weighted gradebook + student portal | ✓ Any grading framework |
| Google Classroom import | ✓ One click |
| Attendance, class stream, parent emails | ✓ Built in |
| Character avatars, powers, health points | Not today |
| Boss battles & branching quests | Not today |
| Team-interdependence RPG mechanics | Not today |
Want it laid out side by side against the original? See the full Level Up Classroom vs. Classcraft comparison.
What Level Up Classroom doesn't do (yet)
Straight answer: today, Level Up Classroom is not a full RPG. There are no character avatars, no boss battles, no branching quests, no powers or health points, and no team-interdependence mechanics. The gamification is XP, levels, badges, and a leaderboard on top of your real gradebook. If a party of custom avatars fighting a boss is the specific thing you loved about Classcraft, that piece isn't here.
What we're building
We're working toward richer, RPG-style mechanics on top of the platform. If you ran Classcraft and want to help shape what that becomes — what mattered, what didn't, what you'd never give up — email us. It's built by a teacher, and teacher input is how it gets built right.
Common questions
Is Classcraft still available?
No. The original Classcraft was acquired by HMH in 2023 and shut down on June 30, 2024. HMH Classcraft launched in 2024 but is sold to schools and districts, not individual teachers, and didn't carry over the original RPG gamification at launch.
What happened to my Classcraft data?
Sign-ups were disabled in early 2024 and the platform went offline after June 30, 2024. Class history from the old platform is no longer accessible through it.
Is there a free Classcraft alternative?
Yes. Level Up Classroom has a free plan — one class, up to 25 students, and a full gamified gradebook (XP, levels, badges) with no credit card required.
What's the closest thing to Classcraft now?
A few RPG-style tools appeared after it closed. But if what you valued was gamification tied to real classwork rather than a separate game beside your gradebook, that's the gap Level Up Classroom fills: XP, levels, and badges built into an actual classroom platform.
Is there a gamified alternative to Google Classroom?
Yes — that's exactly what Level Up Classroom is. Import your Google Classroom in one click, then add a real gradebook plus XP, levels, and badges on top of the coursework.
Can individual teachers still use HMH Classcraft?
HMH Classcraft is positioned for schools and districts on HMH's curricula, not for solo teacher sign-ups. An individual teacher who wants persistent gamification needs a different tool.
Bring the gamification back
A real gradebook with XP, levels, and badges on top of it. Free to start, no credit card. See the full feature list or check pricing.
Try Level Up Classroom free